Sam Perkins and Dale Ellis both came off the bench to fuel
decisive bursts as the Seattle SuperSonics remained unbeaten
against the Pacific Division with their 10th road win, a 111-95
victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Vin Baker had 25 points and 16 rebounds and Gary Payton added 22
points and 12 assists for the SuperSonics, who have won seven of
their last eight games overall. Seattle is 7-0 against division
foes and a league-best 10-4 on the road.

Perkins scored eight of his 10 points in a third-quarter spurt
that gave the Sonics control for good. Ellis scored 19 points,
including eight in the last 4:19 that sealed Seattle's 19th win
in its last 23 meetings with Sacramento.

The duo combined to shoot 8-of-9 from three-point range. Ellis,
the all-time leader in three-pointers, was 5-of-5, while Perkins
was 3-of-4.

"I didn't like how we played defense tonight, but offensively we
played pretty good," Seattle coach George Karl said. "We still
had a little Christmas spirit in us. The Kings played good
basketball and kept coming back. We kept our composure and Dale
Ellis made some big shots down the stretch."

Mitch Richmond collected 25 points and nine assists and Corliss
Williamson added 23 points for the Kings, who had won four of
their last five at home.

"We played hard but it just seemed like we were playing with BB
guns and they were playing with cannons," Kings coach Eddie
Jordan said. "They made some big-time threes. They got out and
ran on us. ... Dale Ellis always comes in and gives us big-time
problems. That's the best team in the league and we fought real
hard against them."

Richmond scored five points in a 10-0 spurt and the Kings took
their last lead at 65-64 on a basket by Williamson with 5:40 to
go in the third quarter. But Perkins had two three-pointers and
scored eight points in a 14-4 burst as the Sonics reclaimed the
lead at 78-69 with 2:37 left in the period.

"All we said was that we needed to bang them the way they were
banging us," Baker said. "We knew what we had to do. We are a
veteran team, we knew what needed to be done and we won the
game. We got a lot of breaks and we started to hit our shots."

Seattle led 86-78 entering the fourth quarter and Sacramento cut
the deficit to seven points on four occasions, the last time at
97-90 on two free throws by Richmond with 4:38 left.

However, the Kings managed just five points thereafter as Ellis
took over. His three-pointer and layup quickly rebuilt the lead
to 12 points with 3:54 to play and he added a three-pointer with
about a minute to go as Seattle closed the game by scoring 14 of
the last 19 points.

Detlef Schrempf scored 17 points for the Sonics, who shot 50
percent (43-of-86) from the field and held a 46-41 rebounding
advantage. Seattle made 10-of-18 three-pointers.

"I thought we played well under the circumstances, holidays and
all those things," Baker said. "We came out and played a good
game. After losing a game and going on the road, we responded
well. This is what I've wanted my whole career, to have an
opportunity to win."

"They started trapping and making some big threes and that was
really it," Stewart said. "It shows where you're at when you
play against the best. It's a good measuring stick for how good
your team is and what you need to do to be the best, and right
now we're not good enough."

A layup by Polynice gave the Kings their largest lead at 43-34
with 5:50 left in the second quarter, but Sacramento went cold,
managing just four points in the rest of the first half. Baker
scored six points and Payton five in a 19-4 run as Seattle took
a 53-47 halftime lead.

"With Seattle, you can be down only two points, look up and be
down 10. That's just how good they are," Polynice said. "That's
why they have the best record in the league."

A three-pointer by Hawkins opened the margin to 58-47 just 61
seconds into the second half before Williamson's layup with
10:02 left in the third quarter ended a stretch that saw the
Kings manage just one field goal for 7:48.

"In the first half we weren't doing nothing," Payton said. "We
let them run their offense and we came out and got physical and
ran our defense like we were supposed to in the third quarter."